Resist Victorian living standards!

Hospital admissions for malnutrition rise threefold, photo Matt J Newman (Creative Commons)

Hospital admissions for malnutrition rise threefold, photo Matt J Newman (Creative Commons)   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Aaron Bailey, Halifax and Huddersfield Socialist Party

Hospitals have come under a new wave of pressure as the number of patients admitted with malnutrition has drastically increased.

Department of Health figures reveal that last year, 184,528 days of hospital bed use were filled with people suffering from malnutrition – up from 65,048 in 2006-7.

This is completely unacceptable in one of the richest countries in the world.

This is what endless cuts and sell-offs from Blairite and Tory governments are doing to this country. I myself used to have to live off less than £20 a week for food due to the cost of my bills and the low wage I got at the time.

This is exactly why the demand for a £10 an hour minimum wage is so important. It would help lift millions of working people in this country out of poverty, and help them be able to provide more and higher quality food for themselves and their families.

On the other hand, some people don’t have jobs, and have to rely on the ever-depressing and ever-failing benefit system to survive. Lifting the benefit cap would go a long way to helping these people avoid malnutrition.

At the same time, there are thousands of homeless people on the streets who struggle to survive day after day.

Giving them a place to stay, and making sure they have the opportunity to work if they’re able, would help alleviate pressure on the overburdened NHS.